Germany, The Next Republic? eBook

When I entered Germany in 1915 there was plenty of
food everywhere and prices were normal. But
a year later the situation had changed so that the
number of food cards—­Germany’s economic
barometer—­had increased eight times.
March and April of 1916 were the worst months in the
year and a great many people had difficulty in getting
enough food to eat. There was growing dissatisfaction
with the way the Government was handling the food
problem but the people’s hope was centred upon
the next harvest. In April and May the submarine
issue and the American crisis turned public attention
from food to politics. From July to October
the Somme battles kept the people’s minds centred
upon military operations. While the scarcity
of food became greater the Government, through inspired
articles in the press, informed the people that the
harvest was so big that there would be no more food
difficulties.

Germany began to pay serious attention to the food
situation, when early in the year, Adolph von Batocki,
the president of East Prussia and a big land owner,
was made food dictator. At the same time there
were organised various government food departments.
There was an Imperial Bureau for collecting fats;
another to take charge of the meat supply; another
to control the milk and another in charge of the vegetables
and fruit. Germany became practically a socialistic
state and in this way the Government kept abreast
of the growth of Socialism among the people.
The most important step the Government took was to
organise the Zentral Einkaufgesellschaft, popularly
known as the “Z. E. G.” The
first object of this organisation was to purchase food
in neutral countries. Previously German merchants
had been going to Holland, Switzerland and the Scandinavian
countries to buy supplies. These merchants had
been bidding against each other in order to get products
for their concerns. In this way food was made
much more expensive than it would have been had one
purchaser gone outside of Germany. So the Government
prohibited all firms from buying food abroad.
Travelling agents of the “Z. E. G.”
went to these countries and bought all of the supplies
available at a fixed price. Then these resold
to German dealers at cost.

Such drastic measures were necessitated by the public
demand that every one share alike. The Government
found it extremely difficult to control the food.
Farmers and rich landowners insisted upon slaughtering
their own pigs for their own use. They insisted
upon eating the eggs their chickens laid, or, upon
sending them through the mail to friends at high prices,
thereby evading the egg card regulations. But
the Government stepped in and farmers were prohibited
from killing their own cattle and from sending foods
to friends and special customers. Farmers had
to sell everything to the “Z. E. G.”
That was another result of State Socialism.

The optimistic statements of Herr von Batocki about
the food outlook led the people to believe that by
fall conditions would be greatly improved but instead
of becoming more plentiful food supplies became more
and more organised until all food was upon an absolute
ration basis.